KL Rahul axed, Shubman Gill called up for 3-match Test series against South Africa

Image Credits: Twitter/@BCCI

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Thursday India's 15-man team for the three-Test series against South Africa starting October 2. Shubman Gill has been handed a maiden Test call-up at the expense of KL Rahul who failed to make his presence felt during the recently concluded two-match Test series against West Indies.

Rahul failed to score a single half-century against the Windies scoring just 44, 38, 13 and 6 during the two Tests. Not only this, the opener has also failed to score consistently in the longest format of the game recently as evident from his tally of 664 runs in the last 30 Test innings. 

The All-India Senior Selection Committee has announced a full strength squad with pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami to lead the attack again. The only other noteworthy absence is that of pace-bowler Umesh Yadav marking the second change from the squad that won 2-0 in the West Indies recently. 

Chief selector MSK Prasad has further expressed a desire to give Rohit Sharma an opportunity to make an impact at the top of the order in the longest format of the game, despite his non-selection in the lineup for the two-Test series against West Indies. 

Sharma will look to make his presence felt in a three-day warm-up game set to be played in Vizianagaram from September 26th where he will be leading the Board President's X1 team. 

India's 15-man squad for South Africa Test series:

Virat Kohli (Capt), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill. 

Board President’s XI: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, AR Easwaran, Karun Nair, Siddhesh Lad, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Jalaj Saxena, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Avesh Khan, Ishan Porel, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav.